Rosy & Wry

This photo was taken in Karachi, Pakistan, on my first trip to the country in the fall of 2016. I was walking around the beach with a good friend and we came upon this sight, among many others.

I love this picture.

I have, unfortunately, been working with a few snakes lately. Usually I can find ways to charm them, keep the civility, keep the work moving forward. But I made the mistake of calling out the snakes, asking they stop biting, stop attacking those I feel a duty to serve. Now the snakes are biting me, my students, my colleagues…

On my first business trip for my first job out of undergrad, I got to go to NYC. It was July of 2012 and my cousin, Matt, was living in the city, so I got to spend my evenings running around the city with him and eating pizza. I was pinching myself, unable to fathom that my work had *actually* sent me alone on a trip to a major city. Later than fall, though, I would be traveling multiple countries on two continents, so my trepidation soon dissolved completely. But I will never forget how freeing and mind-blowing that first trip truly felt like for me.

In 2023 I will have more adventures.

I’ll find more reasons to smile.

I will be open to the journey that’s ahead, planning for the worst but hoping for the best.

Pictured here is my first adventure in Tokyo, Japan, with my partner, Mitch, and my brother, Mika. It was the end of October, 2014.

Before I left for this trip, I was on the phone with Mika, telling him about my itinerary. When I mentioned that I would be ending in Tokyo he immediately asked if he could crash in my hotel room while I worked. I laughed and said, “sure!” Mitch overheard and said, “if Mika’s going, I want to go!”

Long story short… the two of them ended up having a blast in Tokyo together, taking advantage of the hotel room my university had paid for, and picking out a restaurant for us to enjoy in the evenings after I had an exhausting day of visiting high schools.

Sunset on Casper Mountain in Wyoming.

Quick recap:

Wednesday - turned away from our flight; started a 20-hour drive to my parent’s house. Made it 9 hours. Found a dog friendly hotel and Barry got any sleep.

Thursday: planned to finish the last 11-12 hours, but got stuck in blizzard conditions. Spent the night in a middle-of-nowhere hotel that (luckily) allows dogs.

Baxter settled in quickly…

Today is Friday, and we’re having to make a detour that is adding a few hours to our trip, but will get us around road closures and get us to my parent’s house so we can finally start the holiday break we had hoped to start TWO FREAKING DAYS AGO.

The last few days haven’t exactly gone to plan…

Yesterday, my partner and I got our two dogs ready for our flight to my parent’s house for our Christmas break. When we got to the airport, we were turned away - they had tightened their regulations around pets in carriers and our dogs didn’t meet the new restrictions.

I’m a problem solver, so I asked what our options were. They actually suggested we either go with one of their competitors, or fly separately from our dogs. One of the airlines they suggested didn’t even fly to our destination! It was a freaking nightmare. So we left after completely canceling our flight (we now have a credit for a future flight - better than nothing).

So, with our bags packed, our dogs drugged, and our anger stoked, we decided to just drive the 20 hours to my parent’s house.

Funny story…

There’s a massive blizzard going on in the western states. We’ve managed, in two days, to make it 2/3 of the way to my parent’s house, but now almost every road between tonight’s hotel and my parent’s house is closed.

So, here we are, stuck in the middle of nowhere, possibly staying here for another day before we can get to my parent’s house, three days late.

Several years ago I decided to make a spontaneous trip to London for my 30th birthday. I had just enough airline points save up to fly both me and my partner, and just enough hotel points for four nights at a hotel. Spending so many years traveling for work, it’s rare that I get an international adventure all to myself - I was ecstatic.

Because my birthday is in December, our trip was the week before Christmas. We spent time exploring Borough Market, enjoyed street art in Shoreditch, soaked in the vibes in Camden, and so much more.

On an October afternoon in 2016, a family in Karachi, Pakistan, goes for a ride on a motorbike.

My first visit to Bangladesh was in February of 2016. I had been traveling all over South Asia for work, and by the time I got to Bangladesh I was admittedly a little exhausted. My stomach was struggling to get used to the spicier foods and I felt so guilty every time I wasn’t able to finish these delicious foods because of my very American pallet. I’m still working on it.

On one of my afternoons in Dhaka, I was with a few colleagues at a restaurant, sitting on the edge of a balcony, waiting for my food to arrive. Then I heard some shouting below. These two boys had spotted me and my camera and started pointing to it. They smiled, then posed. My colleague said, they want you to take their picture.” So I did.